MudMan
@MudMan@fedia.io
- Comment on Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck 2 weeks ago:
You went for an Intel handheld? I salute you, sir, that's a deep cut.
As one of the five people on the planet who owns an Intel GPU I firmly believe we are in a very exclusive club that will one day do wonders for hardware archaeology.
- Comment on Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck 2 weeks ago:
Sure. Maybe? The Deck isn't that expensive, and despite being relatively limited runs it definitely has some benefits from scale. For one it's a custom APU, so you have to assume there's a specific deal with AMD.
Valve is certainly a first party that benefits from software sales primarily, so it makes sense for them to go to some lengths to invest in bringing people over, but I'm not sure that they are actively subsidizing the Deck, the price seems pretty reasonable. I'm sure they don't make a ton of money from it, though, so they definitely get to thin those margins up a LOT compared with the pure hardware manufacturers, let alone with the tiny companies making handhelds one at a time.
- Comment on Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck 3 weeks ago:
I choose to read that as a genuine compliment.
And yeah, man, these weird devices are being sold to weird people who like them for what they are. Which also means when the next weird thing comes out those weirdos are likely to get upsold and resell older stuff. All of these things are going to be fantastic Youtube videos from retro hardware people in the 2070s, assuming we avoid going full Mad Max Idiocracy that long.
- Comment on Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck 3 weeks ago:
I find this train of thought weird, because these are all niche devices.
It's strange to hear that there's no demographic for boutique handhelds at the same time any mention that the Switch sold an order of magnitude more than the Deck gets a dozen responses that the Deck is "experimental" or "a first try" or "not competing directly".
And hey, all that's true. The Deck will never move 150 million consoles or sell 5 million in a week. There's value in limited run hardware that does things that aren't mainstream propositions alongside the "let's get every kid to get one of these from their grandma" devices.
- Comment on Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck 3 weeks ago:
This is just... not true?
The Deck ranges from 420 to 680. The Legion Go S is 520, right in the middle of that. The Z1 Extreme ROG Ally is 670, right in line with the top of the line Deck (and noticeably more powerful). The Switch 2 is 470, on the cheaper side and also a fair bit beefier.
This article is arguing that having next-gen chips in boutique devices for 1K is a) a new development, and b) a bad thing. It is neither.
Before the Deck went mass market with PC handhelds they would routinely be a lot more expensive. The original Ayaneo was between 800 and 900 in 2021. The Pro model went up to 1200.
I want those things to exist. I want GPD to cram a Strix Halo into a handheld with a removable battery. I want Ayaneo to build a dual screen clamshell. I want them to make a dumb console that spits out its buttons so you can flip them around. I want vertical handhelds. All that kooky weirdness is experimenting with new form factors and parts in ways that will move the segment forward. Without Ayaneo, Odin or GPD being dumb enough to cram a laptop into a handheld there'd be no Steam Deck in the first place.
Let the people who like weird hardware dump a grand or two into those weird things and that's how you eventually get a comfortably priced for-the-rest-of-us thing from Valve or Asus that takes the ideas from those that work.
- Comment on [Game] Hollow Knight: Silksong is now Steam Deck Verified 3 weeks ago:
Also day one on GOG, for anybody interested.
- Comment on Imperfect, Linux-powered, DIY smart TV is the embodiment of ad fatigue 1 year ago:
Yeeeeah, I was gonna say. There are easier, nicer looking ways to drive your media consumption through a computing device on a TV. Hell, there are very nice vertical mounts for laptops that look good as a showpiece, no need to strap the thing to the back of the TV.
But hey, it's a kid doing a hobby project. It's a fun thing to do. I support it.
- Comment on How do you download your game on SD OLED? 1 year ago:
It's good that people have provided workarounds, but it IS kinda nuts that this hasn't been solved yet. It's been an issue since day one, it's not like it makes much sense to leave any version of the Deck with the screen on and full power consumption just so it can download scheduled patches or big games.
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
Making it open source seems to me like the solution to that problem, not the cause. If there is a vulnerability in DOS 6.22 people probably know about it by now. If you're using it for something critical you probably would have an easier time patching it with full access.
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
Well, the two relevant questions there are: A) is it?, and B) so what?
It's not like you're not allowed to provide paid support for a piece of open source software.
At this point I'm not sure what portion of the difference between 4 and 6.22 is relevant or unknown. That's a pretty well explored platform. I guess this way FreeDOS stays relevant a bit longer? Maybe? It's not like it isn't trivial to pull a copy of 6.22. It was trivial when it was new.
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
Yes, alternatives exist. But they can be... how would one put it? Relatively rare and expensive.
I am aware of single board industrial replacement alternatives, but those can be hard to get a hold of, depending on location. Shopping around for used, older thin clients that still have the right I/O and compatible-enough hardware is honestly not a terrible idea, although weirdly the video that you sent as an example highlights a bunch of caveats and issues I wouldn't even have thought about. Still, that one may be a fun project, if slightly not in the spirit, certainly off-spec for the period and definitely not plug-and-play.
Ultimately, though, I do see the appeal of a period-approrpiate, native revival device. Clearly not alone there, hence the OP and the viral success of the Hand, with all its limitations. I'm not saying you can't work around the need for that exact thing. You can and I have. To repeat what my first response to the guy was:
"It's not like there aren't ways to get there now, they're just... relatively rare and quite expensive."
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
...
A MS DOS thin client?
I assumed the guy wanted to run DOS natively, otherwise open source MS DOS definitely isn't a requirement, you can just run DOSBOX on any cheap ARM SBC. But looking at the conversation you're having below maybe they just didn't think about that?
But hey, if you have links to new small form factor 386s for under 100 bucks please do share, I'd be super curious to get one. VGA out is strongly preferred. If I was going to live with nonsense digital output scaling issues I'd just use the MiSTer I already have.
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
I mean, you're pointing people at the Hand 386 below. You clearly know what I'm talking about.
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
I'm all for that idea, but I don't think what's holding it back is the OS. It's not like there aren't ways to get there now, they're just... relatively rare and quite expensive.
- Comment on Microsoft open sources MS-DOS 4.0 1 year ago:
To complete that question:
Why... not 6.22?